SUMMARY:
This act updates terminology used in numerous statutes regarding the provision of developmental disability services.
It substitutes the term “intellectual disability” for “mental retardation” and “intermediate care facility for individuals with intellectual disabilities” for “intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded” to reflect changes in federal law and within the developmental disabilities community.

The act makes other minor and technical changes.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
October 1, 2013

BACKGROUND

Updated Terminology

A 2010 federal law, known as “Rosa's Law” (P.
L.
111-256), changed references in federal law from “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability” and from a “mentally retarded individual” to an “individual with an intellectual disability.
” The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also changed references in regulations from “intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded” to “intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities” (42 CFR § 483.
400 et seq.
).

The new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association, which took effect in May 2013, changes the term “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability.
”